The document in question was removed by one of the law firms Microsoft uses, which immediately sparked further speculation to the leak's credence. In their response to the leak, the firm said they're lucky to have consumers who are excited for the future of Xbox.

"We understand there is great interest and anticipation for what comes next for Xbox and we are lucky to have customers who are so passionate about the platform.

"Today, there has never been a better time to own an Xbox 360 console. We have found new ways to extend the console lifecycle by introducing controller-free experiences with Kinect and we've re-invented the console with a new dashboard and new entertainment content partnerships.

"We are continually thinking about the future of the platform and when we have something to share, we will."

The now-removed document that was created in 2010, which featured 56 pages, mentioned SmartGlass -- the technology was announced during E3 2012. Also noted was a $299 price tag, Blu-ray support, 3D glasses, cloud-based gaming and the next generation of Kinect.

To me this means that yes, that was a legit document, but Microsoft can't say that it is, so they say "Xbox 360 is a great console and we're committed to working on that, as well as the future"... AKA - That document is real, those are generally our plans, but we can't let you know so we'll tell you that the current gen still has life in it, and you should wait on our official word about the next Xbox.

Saying this instead the usual "we don't comment on rumors" BS certainly lends some credibility to those documents.

And by refusing to flat out deny it, later they can say (if the 720 turns out just like the rumors) "well, we didn't lie and say it wasn't like this".Concurrently, by refusing to officially confirm it, later they can still have some sort of big "surprise" announcement.

Fake or real document is irrelevant. It's a couple of years old and the plans will have evolved and changed since then. Nuggets of truth in there if it's real. But take everything with generous amounts of salt either way.